'Outdoor Girl' Curtiss Thrush

[Pete Fardell]

I started a build thread for this model on the old HPA, but have only just got around to starting on the actual build. 'Outdoor Girl' was the Curtiss Thrush sponsored by the cosmetic company of the same name, flown to a new endurance record of nearly ten days in Dec 1933, achieved with multiple air-to-air refuellings. Pilots were Helen Richie and Francis Marsalis.
I found quite a good drawing online and have quite a nice colour source in the form of a contemporary model in the Smithsonian. A helpful curator there sent me a couple of photos and confirmed that the fuselage is very dark blue.
There's also some is also some good film footage to be found, such as this on YouTube:

My own model will be for rubber, and with a span of about 32 inches will be approximately 1/12 scale.

So far I just have two fuselage sides.

[Pete Fardell]

A little bit of progress...
And a correction: Scale is 1/18, not 1/12 as stated before. The real Curtiss Thrush had a wingspan of 48ft, and mine will be about 32 inches.

[Marc Guerriero]

Are you using 1/8th for the longerons?

[Squirrelnet]

Nice aircraft and it looks like it'll be a nice replacement for the Comte after 'Shelfgate'

[Pete Fardell]

Are you using 1/8th for the longerons?

3/32nd sq, and 3/32 sheet for the forward fuselage. Nice and sturdy, if not very light.
 I now have wings, and am using the same system as on my Comte for their attachment; little pegs and a band through a tube.

[Lastwoodsman]

Hi Pete:                              Thur July 23 2026

    Thanks for re-posting your 'Outdoor Girl' version of a  32"  Curtiss Thrush,  after that big HPA crash.   I do remember those wing attachments,  and    I'm looking forward to seeing how it is done.    Long live the  'core' !      

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Squirrelnet]

Coming along very nicely

[Anyun]

Looks great, "nice and sturdy" is good for outdoor conditions. I like the way you did the wing tips, using solid block only where necessary. /Andrea

[Pete Fardell]

I like the way you did the wing tips, using solid block only where necessary. /Andrea

Thanks- this was really done to try and replicate the real aircraft's wing tip structure rather than for lightness. I notice though that the rear portion of the wingtip near the aileron needs removing (see comparison photo). I think this was done on Outdoor Girl (but not other Curtiss Thushes) to eliminate the risk of the air-to-air fuel line getting caught in the outboard aileron gap.

Anyway, some more progress...
I've now fitted the main u/c legs and also made the tail surfaces. The tailplane looked just a little too small for comfort on the 3 view so mine is enlarged 110%.

[Pete Fardell]

Slow but steady progress on this one. I've applied the 'Outdoor Girl' lettering and lady golfers to the fuselage, and did this by first messing about on the computer using photos of the real aircraft and tweaking things in MSPaint.net. Then I chose a likely shade of blue for the background and printed everything onto ordinary printer paper, after a lot of faffing about trying to get the size right. Then I covered the fuselage sides with it. This isn't a very light option but it is a good way to get small white letters on a dark background. I seemed to remember in an old discussion here, about paper covered models, that Bill said paper takes dope pretty well. He was right- it does.

Now I need to add the silver strips down the sides. To this end, I've sprayed some Tamiya tape silver, with an acrylic silver rattle can, and plan to just stick the strips on. Ideally I'd like to then dope over them to stop them falling off, but experimentation reveals dope over acrylic isn't ideal, as it can smear it.
I suppose acrylic clear varnish would be better but I don't really want it any more shiny than it is now, and matt varnish rather deadens the nice crisp white letters.
Is there any silver paint that you CAN dope over?

[billdennis747]

Silver dope! Want some?

[Pete Fardell]

Silver dope! Want some?

Yes please!

[g_kandylakis]

Hi Pete,

the golden rule is LEA (think of Starwars to remember)

Lacquer
Enamel
Acrylic

in this order of application the next does not mess up the previous.

So, try some lacquer silver.

Do give it a try on some scrap first though.

Looks nice! and big...

George